It's The Best Way We Survive
by iGoToExtremes
Summary: AU high school. Finn and Rachel don't really like each other... until they do.
1. When We Live Such Fragile Lives

_**Hello! This is an AU that I previously posted on Tumblr. There are four parts total but I'm trying to clean them up a little bit and may re-work a few things, so this is all you'll get for now. :-P**_

_**Disclaimer that I don't own anything Glee-related and any typos remaining after clean-up are totally my fault. **_

_**Oh, and this is rated T for now... but that will change next chapter. ;-)**_

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Finn strolled into second-period health class, high-fiving a few of his football teammates before taking his seat towards the back of the room just as the bell rang.

"All right, class, settle down," Mr. Gleason said sternly from the front of the room. "This week we'll be beginning our unit on responsible adult households, meaning how to handle logistical and financial decisions you'll be faced with over the course of your lives. You'll all be paired off and assigned a different life phase - newly married couple, family with young children, parents about to send a child to college, couple contemplating retirement, etc."

Finn rolled his eyes at the lame assignment while his teammates groaned their own frustration. They were 16 - why did they need to care about these adult decisions now?

During his internal rant, Mr. G had begun reading off the name pairings. Since they weren't necessarily mixed-gender Finn fleetingly hoped that he'd be with one of his buddies. As weird as it'd be to pretend to be married to a dude, he'd prefer that to being stuck with a girl he didn't like.

"…Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson…"

Upon hearing his name Finn searched the front row of the room for Rachel.

They'd only had a few random classes together since she was in all honors classes while he struggled to keep up in the normal levels of math and science. (He did pretty good in history since that was mostly about wars and presidents and he liked that stuff. And in English it was easy enough to get by reading summaries of novels instead of the actual books.) The one thing he knew for sure about Rachel Berry was that she was super involved in music and drama activities and was constantly complaining to Principal Figgins about how the arts didn't get enough attention at their school compared to sports.

And the way her eyes were narrowed in his direction indicated that she wasn't thrilled with the idea of working with the school's quarterback.

Finn cringed at the thought of just how unpleasant the project was going to be.

After the pairings were all announced, a representative from each one went to the front of the room to randomly draw their assignment and presentation time. By then, there were only a few minutes left in the period for each team to meet and discuss how to handle the project.

As soon as they were given the go-ahead to break into pairs, Rachel stood from her seat and marched back to stand over Finn's desk.

"Hello, Finn," she began, not waiting for any response from him before continuing, "According to our assignment slip, we are a young married couple about to have a child. Some inherent considerations include where to live, whether one parent can stay home or if outside childcare is needed, and how to start saving for college."

She looked at him expectantly.

"Uh, okay." He wasn't sure what else he was supposed to say.

"Our presentation isn't until next week but I'd prefer not to wait until the last minute to work on it." She opened a small planner and studied the page. "How about tomorrow afternoon?"

Finn usually didn't slack off on his schoolwork on purpose, but the thought crossed his mind that he could probably dodge her and she'd just do most of the assignment herself.

It'd be easier for both of them, he reasoned in his head.

"I, uh, can't tomorrow," he said casually. "Practice," he added with a shrug.

Rachel snickered and rolled her eyes. "Look, don't think that if you ignore the project I'll complete it myself. I may be a conscientious student but I will **not** be taken advantage of," she explained sternly. "And pulling the busy-jock routine **definitely** won't work, either. I'm plenty occupied with extra-curriculars myself."

With that she turned the planner toward him, and his eyes went wide at the different colors strewn across the open pages, noting time-blocks for glee club rehearsal, dance class, voice lessons, homework, meals… basically everything.

He'd seen people keep calendars before, but none of them looked like this.

"Okay, okay," he said calmly, studying her schedule in search of free time that matched up with his own. "How about Thursday? I should be done with practice around 5 and your voice lesson ends at the same time." He glanced at the planner again. "I'm sure your 'intensive scales routine' can wait until Friday," he added with a teasing tone.

He'd expected her to blush or react in some way, but her face stayed surprisingly calm. "Indeed it can," she replied as she scrawled something on a piece of paper.

"This is my number." She slid the paper across his desk. "Text me your address and I'll see you there at 5:30 on Thursday." At that she returned to her seat, gathering her books and gliding out of the room when the bell rang, apparently without giving Finn a second thought.

No girl had ever spoken to him that way before.

He smirked in amused disbelief.

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"Dude, I can't believe you got paired up with Berry," Puck said as he sat down next to Finn in the cafeteria. "Chick may be a little insane but she's so uptight about school I'm sure you won't need to lift a finger for this project."

"Nah, man." Finn shook his head as he swallowed a bite of sloppy joe. "She specifically said that won't happen. We're meeting on Thursday to work on it."

"Meeting? Where?" Puck asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"My house," Finn answered before eating a French fry. "Why?"

"Dude! Isn't it obvious? She wants a piece of the Studson!"

Finn rolled his eyes. "She definitely does **not**. Trust me."

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By some stroke of luck, practice on Thursday was short and Finn was home, showered and snacked and ready by 5:00. With nothing else to do until Rachel got there, his mind wandered to their assignment. Not having spent any time around babies in his actual life, the only reference points he had were TV shows and movies, but it was better than nothing. He tore a sheet of paper out of his spiral notebook and scratched out a few ideas that came to mind.

Rachel arrived at exactly 5:30.

"I took the liberty of making a preliminary list of the issues we should cover in our presentation," she began as they got settled at the dining room table, producing a neatly typed sheet of notes.

"Cool. I wrote some stuff down too." He tried not to feel shitty about how much shorter his list was than hers, and how crappy it looked compared to her neatly typed bullet points.

"Oh." She seemed surprised but not impressed. "Well let's compare our lists and go from there."

After they combined their lists they turned to Finn's laptop to research some basic child development issues and other logistical baby-planning stuff.

"So, uh, I guess that's it, right?" Finn asked after about a half-hour. "Seems like all we need to do is divide up which parts we'll talk about."

"I'm not sure…" Rachel answered, as if lost in thought.

"About what?" Finn asked, trying not to sound impatient.

"Well, I imagine our classmates' presentations will be the same ordinary stand-up-and-talk routines. I'd prefer to do something a little different," she explained. "Standing out always improves one's chance at a better grade."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her overachiever mentality. This was health class, for fuck's sake.

"I've got it!" Finn said after a moment f thought, startling her. "Before you got here I was thinking about TV shows and movies where people need to prepare for a baby."

"Oh?" Rachel's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah. So maybe we could do our presentation like it's a scene in a movie."

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "We certainly **will** distinguish ourselves by acting out our discussion theatrically," she agreed. "And I'm always eager for new ways in which to utilize my acting capabilities."

"I thought you might be," Finn said with a warm smile, filled with an odd surge of pride from her approval of his idea.

She returned the grin briefly before going back to being all business.

"Okay, so," she began, reaching for the laptop and starting to type. "We should open the scene with me telling you that I'm pregnant…"

They worked for another hour to draft a script and run through it a few times. Finn was surprised at how much fun it was to get in-character and practice delivering lines. The activity also seemed to loosen Rachel up a bit, which he found himself enjoying as well.

Of course, she got a little uptight again and suggested that they have the thing completely memorized. He promised her that he would do the best he could to practice his lines over the weekend, but made no guarantees that he'd be able to present without the script in front of him.

"I suppose that'll do," she conceded with a half-smile while she packed up her things.

Finn couldn't help but think that she was kinda cute when she wasn't being such a controllist about everything.

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The next day after the last bell Finn rolled down the hallway toward the gym with a few of his teammates.

Finn was only half-listening to the guys' idiotic conversation, and his attention was diverted completely when they passed by Rachel and some of the other music/drama oddball kids. She was talking to the guy in the wheelchair, her lips moving a mile a minute and her hands waving while the others waited to get a word in.

"Hey, Rachel," Finn said with a slight nod in her direction.

All five of them looked up at the interruption. The Asian girl's jaw fell open while the black girl looked him up and down in judgment and the kid with the overly fashionable clothes rolled his eyes.

(Okay so **_maybe_** one time Finn was there when Puck and Karofsky threw Fashion Kid into a dumpster. And laughed because he was nervous and a freshman and worried about fitting in. But he never did that shit himself, and after a few weeks he stopped hanging around when the other guys did it because he didn't see the point.)

Rachel nervously tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, a blush coloring her cheeks when they made eye contact. "Hi, Finn," she replied before quickly returning to her conversation.

Pleased with that reaction, Finn chuckled to himself as he kept walking.

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At Rachel's insistence, they met briefly before school on Tuesday to run through their performance one more time before their presentation slot during second period.

When they took their places in the front of the health classroom, Finn felt a twinge of nervousness, wondering how his teammates and the other kids would react to him acting out a scene with Rachel as they pretended to be a married couple. But he also felt excited, ready to take on the challenge and put himself out there in that way.

For some reason, looking over and seeing Rachel's confident smiling face made him that much more eager to do a good job.

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By Friday, all the presentations had been given. Mr. Gleason spent ten minutes talking about the assignment and distributing their grades, before issuing all of them a pass to study hall for the remainder of the period.

"I can't believe we got an A!" Finn exclaimed as they exited the classroom.

"Yes, I'm pleasantly surprised by the outcome as as well," Rachel agreed with a bright smile.

By the time they reached her locker, though, her mouth settled into a tense line.

"I'm sorry I misjudged you, Finn." She turned to face him, glancing around as if to check that they were alone in the hallway. "I honestly didn't expect you to contribute very much to the project. But you came up with the idea to act out the scene, and did a _spectacular_ job with the performance."

"You think so?" he asked, silently praying that his cheeks weren't as red as they suddenly felt.

"I do. You're very talented." She paused, her cute half-smile appearing again. "I should know; I'm very talented too."

"Thanks," he said, unable to keep the grin off his face. "And you are... so I'm sorry too. At first I thought you were a little nuts with your planner and crazy work ethic, but doing this assignment was really fun. And you're actually pretty cool."

She looked off to the side, her cheeks now pink as well. "You don't really mean that…"

"Nah, I do." He held her gaze, hoping it would convince her that he meant every word.

Rachel's eyes were wide and blinking, her curvy red lips in a delicate pout.

"I, uh…" he stammered, befuddled by their intense eye contact but unable to look away.

"You know you can kiss me if you want to," she said softly.

Finn's breath hitched in his throat. "I want to." With that he leaned down, pressing his lips against hers.

His heart swelled at the contact. Finn had kissed lots of girls before, but none of those kisses made him feel hyperaware of all of his senses in the space of 10 seconds.

Then, Rachel opened her mouth slightly, allowing him to slip his tongue in and increase the electricity even more. He sank one hand into her hair at the base of her neck just as her delicate fingers came up to rest on the side of his face.

When they needed to break for air he opened his eyes (when did he even close them?), leaning against the wall and trying to remember how to breathe normally.

"I-I'm sorry…" Rachel stepped back, nervously smoothing her hair before turning and walking away.

Finn stood still, completely in shock, staring as she retreated down the hallway.

She turned back for a brief second before rounding a corner and disappearing from view.

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**_TBC. _**


	2. You Are the Only One That Needs to Know

_**Hi again. Thanks for the wonderfully supportive reviews and all of the follows after chapter 1.**_

_**I forgot to mention last time that the title of the story is taken from "Dirty Little Secret" by All-American Rejects, and each chapter title will be another lyric from the song as well. **_

_**I'd call the rating of this chapter "T+". Next chapter will be M. **_

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For the rest of the day Finn replayed his kiss with Rachel over and over again in his head.

Unfortunately what stuck in his mind more vividly was the image of her walking away afterwards.

Had he done something wrong? Oh god, was he a bad kisser?! No one else had ever complained. And she seemed to enjoy the kiss when it was happening... but maybe not.

The day seemed to drag on endlessly. He looked for her after school, in the spot where she and her friends usually met up before whatever it was they did in the afternoons, but she wasn't there. She was probably still avoiding him.

So he slogged through practice, gritting his teeth as Beiste told him he looked sluggish and dismissing Puck's question about what crawled up his ass.

When he got home he had even less motivation to do his schoolwork than usual, and tried to distract himself by playing some Halo. This worked until the doorbell rang.

He ignored the first ring, but the second time the guilt overcame him (what if their sweet old neighbor Mrs. Smith needed him to reach a high shelf again?) and he trudged downstairs from his room.

When he opened the door to reveal Rachel on his front porch, he wasn't sure what to think.

Upon seeing him she spoke quickly. "I just came here to apologize for kissing you because it was a mistake and can't happen again."

"Hi, Rachel. Would you like to come in?" His words were overly polite in response to her rushed statement, but his voice was laced with thinly-veiled bitterness.

Her face softened and she looked down at the floor. "Yes, I suppose."

Maybe it was rude but he didn't offer her a drink or anything like the last time she'd come over. Instead he just sat on the couch and waited for her to join him.

"So...?" he asked with a shrug as she sat down.

"So." Man, she really wasn't giving him much to work with.

"You wanna maybe tell me **_why_** you think kissing me was a mistake?"

Rachel exhaled, her eyes closing for a moment. "Remember last week? When you said 'hi' in the hallway?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Well. Let's just say that my friends had good reason to be surprised that you and I are on such cordial terms."

He stared at her, not quite following what she was getting at.

"You're the enemy, Finn! Certainly you're aware of my crusade to elevate the visibility of music and drama at this school, and my main argument has always been that sports get too much funding and attention. And that's especially true for football, which is really just glorified violence. Two years ago the idea of even **talking** to someone like you seemed an absurd notion, and now..." She got a distant look in her eyes and smiled at him shyly.

Embarrassingly, Finn felt his cheeks burn at her silent admission that she wanted to do _more_ than talk to him.

But before he could seize upon that, her face grew serious again.

"Similarly, wouldn't your teammates and the cheerleaders think it was weird if they saw us... together?"

Finn shrugged. "I don't really care what they think." He paused, smiling. "Which isn't something I thought I'd be saying two years ago, either. Yeah, we're different, but why is that the end of the story? If I like you and want to get to know you better, isn't that what matters?"

Rachel blushed and looked down at the floor. "Stop, you're making me want to kiss you again."

He reached over to lightly touch her chin, encouraging her to tilt her face and look at him.

"So kiss me again." Somehow he still sounded confident despite his pounding heart.

She sighed, her eyes full of conflict before she leaned forward all of the sudden, her lips colliding with his.

Finn gasped into her mouth, surprised by the force and fervor.

Their kiss in the hallway had been fairly sweet and cautious compared to this passionate and hungry display, Rachel's soft lips moving against his like it was the only thing keeping her alive.

Finn cupped her face on either side, trying to slow the pace down a little bit and make it last. Kissing her was addicting and he never wanted to stop.

She went along with the change of speed, inching closer to him on the couch and resting her palms on his chest.

Finn tested the waters by moving his hands to her hips, slipping his fingertips under the hem of her shirt. She bit his lower lip just as he stroked the smooth skin of her sides and suddenly his jeans felt super tight.

Feeling bolder, he slid his hand up her flat stomach and lightly touched the satin-covered underside of her breast, hoping to everything holy that his gasp wasn't too loud.

At the very least, Rachel's moan matched it and her hands fisted around his t-shirt as he rubbed her through the fabric. With his other hand he lightly clutched the back of her neck and resumed kissing her.

"We- we should stop," she panted suddenly after a moment, pulling back and straightening out her blouse.

At his disappointed expression she affectionately rested a hand on his thigh.

"Not forever," she assured him with a sly grin. "Just for now."

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The next morning, Finn's eyes flew open before his alarm even went off, smiling as he thought back to Rachel's afternoon visit.

He rubbed his eyes and grabbed his phone.

_when ca again?_ he texted her.

His phone beeped only a few seconds later.

_Tomorrow at 5:30, your house?_ she wrote back.

His heart did cartwheels at the fact that she answered so fast. He felt himself oddly hopeful that she had been thinking about him just as he'd thought of her as soon as he woke up.

He eagerly anticipated their next meeting, and of course he had to live through _two_ full school days before it happened, he thought with a groan as he got up to get ready.

She liberally rolled her eyes at him when they passed in the hallway later that day, but he caught a cute smirk on her lips which told him that this was part of the game she thought they needed to play.

Finn was a bandit at practice on Thursday, drawing compliments about his hustle from Coach Beiste.

"You gettin' laid or something?" Puck asked out of nowhere when they were allowed a break on the sidelines.

"What?" Finn asked, panting, before swallowing a gulp of water.

"You're in an insanely better mood now than you were last week," his mohawked teammate explained. "Thought maybe you finally started tapping Berry."

Finn did his best to act natural as he laughed it off. "Nah man, she only gives me the time of day because we did well on that Health project."

"Yeah, she'll be a tough nut to crack, but I think you can do it if you keep trying." With that Puck smacked Finn's back with his helmet before jogging back onto the field.

Finn would've felt bad about lying if he wasn't kinda pissed about the way Puck treated girls like a competition. But he tried not to think about it as he refocused on practice.

Beiste kept them a little later than normal so Finn raced through his shower and drove home as fast as he could to make it there before 5:30. Luckily he made it there with a few minutes to spare.

Rachel showed up exactly on schedule, basically throwing herself at him the second he closed the front door behind her.

"Hello to you too," he teased her between kisses, pressing her back up against the door. She answered by increasing the suction of her mouth against his and snaking her arms up around his neck.

After several minutes of feverish kissing his neck started to hurt from leaning down to her height level.

"Do you, uh, wanna go upstairs?" he asked, trying to catch his breath now that they'd separated.

"Um, yes." Rachel answered, blushing. She followed him up the stairs after he turned on his heels.

"I didn't know you played the drums," she observed when they got to his room. While taking in the rest of her surroundings she shrugged off her coat and hung it over the back of his desk chair before sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Yeah, I do," he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Probably not well, but-"

"Finn," she began, voice serious, "everyone's musical abilities have to start somewhere. If you want to be better, just practice more. I'm sure the talent is somewhere in there simply **waiting** to burst out." She delivered her encouragement with a bright smile and continued beaming at him after she'd finished.

Something about it made him feel really good in a way he couldn't explain, and this time **he** threw himself at **her**as they resumed what they'd started downstairs.

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"Are your, um, parents coming home anytime soon?" Rachel asked later as she re-fastened her bra.

"Uh, it's just me and my mom. And she works late Tuesdays and Thursdays. 'Til 8." He paused. "Your parents aren't at home wondering where you are?"

"I have two dads, but they know how busy I am with extra-curriculars. If I'm out until dinnertime they assume I'm busy with a rehearsal or homework or something. But they **can** be extremely overprotective when it comes to boys, which is why I suggested we do this here," she explained as she slid her blouse back on. "Last year I dated a senior from Carmel and they were **insufferable** with their interrogations about where we were going and constantly calling to check up on me and-"

"A senior from Carmel?" Finn interrupted, quickly pulling his head through the hole in his t-shirt.

"Yeah, his name's Jesse, and he turned out to be kind of a jerk. He goes to UCLA now..." Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him from the edge of the bed. "Finn Hudson! Are you jealous?"

He scoffed, trying to dismiss her accusation, but didn't say anything.

"I'm sure you've had plenty of girlfriends..."

He wanted to correct her and say that he'd never found any other girls worth the time a relationship seems to take up, but he was afraid that would make him sound like a dick instead of highlighting how much he liked her.

"And really, I don't care if you have," she went on. "But you can't blame me for being a little skeptical that you're genuinely interested in me when you have cheerleaders at your disposal."

"They're... ordinary," he insisted, wary of the turn the conversation had taken. "You're different. Special." God, words were failing him in the worst way.

Then again maybe it was all good considering how Rachel blushed and took his hand. "You're very sweet."

He raised a eyebrow as he reached for a pair of mesh shorts. "Sweet enough to drop this whole secrecy business? And go on actual dates and stuff?"

She sighed. "Please just try to understand where I'm coming from. Life is complicated enough; who wouldn't prefer a no-strings below-the-radar relationship to one with all the inevitable drama and broken hearts?"

He shrugged, letting the silence speak for him and sliding the shorts on over his boxers. "So, like, am I supposed to just ignore you at school? No saying hello in the hallway or anything?"

"You can **do** whatever you want," Rachel snickered. "Just don't expect me to respond in kind," she added with a flirtatious lilt.

The playfulness in her eyes made Finn's mouth twitch into a mischievous half-smile.

He certainly wasn't going to turn down what sounded like a challenge.

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**_To be continued! Reviews are wonderful!_**


	3. I Go Around a Time or Two

_**Thanks for all the reviews/favorites/follows! **_

_**This part is rated M. See prior chapters for other relevant disclaimers.**_

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Rachel started going to Finn's house nearly every Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30. In between experiencing each other physically Finn made sure that they also, like, talked. At first she didn't say much, but he could tell that she liked being asked how her different activities were going. That got her to open up a bit & she started asking him about his stuff as well. One evening they even studied for their Health exam together, and when Finn mentioned that he was having trouble with Algebra, Rachel happily explained polynomial functions until the X's and Y's started to make a little more sense to him.

It was nice, the routine they seemed to fall into.

Meanwhile, at school, he made a point of talking to her whenever he could. Based on her promise that she wouldn't respond favorably, they were never really long conversations. Sometimes he just said "Hey, Berry" when he passed her in the hallway, complete with a cocky smirk. She was usually pretty quick to roll her eyes or respond with a dismissive, "Hello, Hudson."

Or, if he walked by her table at lunch when she was in the middle of an animated discussion with a friend, he said something like "Oooh, which one of you made Berry angry?" to which she'd usually just tell him to shut up and ignore him.

(She was the one who started with the last-names thing. "The impersonal nature of addressing one another that way lends itself to the appearance that our relationship is purely adversarial," she explained one afternoon, straddling his lap while he sat on the edge of his bed.)

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A bonus to their "adversarial" public relationship, he learned, was that it seemed to fuel her appetite... for him. On the days when he teased her in the halls, she basically jumped him the second she arrived. Sometimes they didn't even make it up to his room... like when she simply got on her knees on the welcome mat in the front hallway while he leaned back against the door. (For the record, he sat her down on the stairs and returned the favor right away.)

One day, they managed to find their way upstairs, but things still got very heated very fast and Finn became overwhelmed by the feeling that he needed her _completely_. He had obviously enjoyed what they'd been doing so far, but they hadn't yet done _everything_ and he wasn't sure how to bring that up. For a moment he wracked his brain over how to broach the topic (while also trying to concentrate on what he was doing to her) when she beat him to it.

"Do you... mmm... have a condom?"

He immediately lifted his head from between her legs and sat up.

"I, uh, yeah," he stammered, studying her heaving chest and lust-filled eyes as he scooted upwards on the bed and reached for his nightstand drawer. "You've... um... before?"

"Yes," she answered, biting her lip as if she was a little embarrassed before seductively her eyes narrowed at him. "But I'm assuming you'd rather do it with me now than talk about those other times, right?"

"Yeah. Yes. Definitely," he responded, worried that he sounded too eager. Luckily her only response to was grab the back of his neck and pull him in for a ridiculously hot kiss.

(Yeah, he didn't want to hear about Rachel doing it with that asshat Jesse... and she absolutely didn't need to hear about his awful first-time experience with Santana, he thought while she pushed down his boxers.)

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Of course, the timing of their progression to sex was pretty bad considering they took that step right before Christmas break. Rachel went away on a cruise with her dads for 10 days, during which time Finn thought he was going to go insane thinking about her and re-living the mind-blowing experience in his head. Despite trying to keep up her tough exterior she'd seemed so dainty and vulnerable when he pushed into her for the first time. And when she tightened around him, her back arching and her eyes closing and her throat vibrating with a wordless moan... yeah, that was basically the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Aside from that, he also just missed being around her, the way she blushed when he complimented her or giggled when he made a pun about her boobs. Being apart only reminded him of how much he liked her and wanted to have a real relationship instead of just sneaking around.

(If Puck knew about all that he'd threaten to remove Finn's balls, he was sure.)

_I'm back ;-) _she texted him on the last day of vacation.

His jeans felt tight just from hearing that they were in the same zip code again.

_Awesome, when can I see you?_ he wrote back, spelling out all the words because she once mentioned that she hated abbreviations in texts.

_Mmm, how about at school tomorrow morning? There's a small, soundproof rehearsal room backstage in the auditorium..._

Finn had been hoping for some way to see her that night, but the next morning would have to do since her dads were probably around and his mom was having her weekly book club meeting in their living room.

Getting up early was a small price to pay.

"Uhn, I missed you." The words flowed from his mouth instinctively as he pressed her against the wall of the small space, attacking her lips like he was drowning and she was his only available source of oxygen.

He felt her tense against him. "I missed you, too," she said with some hesitation, before slowly relaxing into the next kiss.

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January basically flew by as they tried to fit their secret meetings in amongst other activities – basketball practice and games for Finn, auditions and logistical planning for the spring musical for Rachel.

Before he knew it, Finn was printing out fliers for the team's annual Valentine's week bake sale.

**Maybe** he should have told Rachel about it a few nights before, when she mentioned that the drama club was also going to have a bake sale to boost its fundraising... but not telling her fit in nicely with the little game they were playing.

He put his signs up in the main hallway while Rachel and her friends were watching, making sure to wink at her from across the way. She crossed her arms and huffed.

In the cafeteria, he taped his flier directly **over** one of hers, causing her to storm out of the room entirely.

When she spun on the balls of her feet to walk away, Finn noticed that she was wearing skin-tight knee-high heeled boots.

He suddenly felt even better about his decision to egg her on.

"You know you've got some nerve," she said sharply when he opened the door for her that afternoon.

He shot her his best devilish smirk. "Good to see you too, Berry."

"The drama club put up fliers a week ago about our bake sale fundraiser. The basketball team can't just decide on a whim to have one at the same time! It isn't enough that sports get all the attention and glory and school-board funding? You have to step on my toes when it comes to student fundraising as well!?" She was livid.

"I'm stepping on **your** toes? Please. Everyone knows that the basketball team has had a Valentine's bake sale every year since, like, forever. If anyone's overstepping, it's you and your band of singing, dancing… diva-freaks!"

He saw Rachel stifling a giggle, clearly amused at his lame choice of words.

"Well, how are we gonna to settle this?" he asked, eyes narrowing at her.

She quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching them. "I'm going to teach you a lesson about how 'diva-freaks' always get what they want."

With that she forced him backwards and pushed her way into the house. As soon as the door closed behind them her lips latched onto his, tongue instantly probing his mouth. He groaned and squeezed her ass roughly through her puffy winter coat, which she unzipped and shrugged off of her shoulders without relenting her oral assault.

"You think you can just barge in here and teach me a lesson, huh?" he said huskily between kisses, fueled by the intensity of their "fight". "Maybe I have a few things to school you about."

Rachel moaned as his lips traveled roughly down her neck, her hands wildly grasping at his back through his thin t-shirt. He felt an odd sense of pride that his muted aggression always got her going like this. He turned his back towards the stairs, their actions growing sloppier while they maneuvered up the steps before arriving at the top landing.

After a few more paces they stumbled into his room more or less entwined, tongues frantically dueling and hands groping wildly. When they reached the bed Rachel sat down on its edge while Finn deftly whisked off his t-shirt.

Meanwhile, she reached down to the zipper of her right boot, but before she could make any progress with it Finn abruptly grasped her wrist. Then he pushed her back so she was laying sprawled out on the bed, and pinned both of her arms above her head with one of his hands. After a beat of intense eye contact he kissed her hard on the mouth, snaking his free hand up under her dress. She gasped as his long fingers stroked the smooth skin of her flat stomach before slipping under her bra and squeezing a breast, working her nipple into a taut peak while his mouth roamed downward to lave at her neck.

With her arms immobilized above her head she was powerless to do anything other than writhe and arch up into Finn's touch. Obviously quite pleased with her state of wantonness he directed his attention lower, palming her core through her thin panties.

"Mmm… Hudson…" she moaned, eyes fluttering closed as she squirmed against his strong hand.

He laughed a little to himself at the fact that she was still "in character" from their argument even though they were alone.

Not wanting to waste any time, he practically ripped her panties off of her, shucking the scrap of material down and hurriedly pulling it off of her boot-clad feet.

He leaned over to his nightstand to grab a condom, releasing her arms out of necessity. Within seconds her hands found the fly of his jeans and tore them down along with his boxers. Once he was naked he quickly sheathed his rock-hard member and hovered over her again, sliding a finger along her slick folds before positioning himself at her entrance.

"Ohh!" she exclaimed as he pushed all the way into her slick channel with a single smooth thrust. She wrapped her legs around his thighs, the heels of her boots pressing into his naked flesh as he quickly established a rhythm.

When she started clawing at his back and moaning in time with his thrusts he knew that she was close. Reaching between them he swiped his thumb against her small bundle of nerves, moving it in a steady circle until she seized in pleasure underneath him. The feeling of her walls fluttering around his cock and her heels digging into his legs sent him over the edge immediately thereafter.

Afraid of crushing her small frame he did his best to collapse in a heap next to her as opposed to directly on top of her.

"'Singing, dancing diva-freaks?'" Rachel asked after she caught her breath, situating herself on her side and raising her eyebrows at him.

"That's not what you and your friends are?" he asked snidely as he turned to face her directly.

"Fair point," she conceded, exhaling loudly before putting her underwear back on and straightening out the rest of her clothes.

"And what about you, huh? That was quite the _performance_," he teased, brushing a stray hair out of her eyes. "'I'm gonna teach you a lesson'? All I could imagine was you tying me up and punishing me. Especially with these boots you're wearing. I mean… _**fuck**_." He flopped over onto his back as if admitting defeat in the face of her attire.

Rachel laughed heartily at the sentiment. "So **that's** why you were so _**eager **_today. I'll keep that in mind for the future," she teased him as she sat up and then stood from the bed.

"You're going so soon?" he asked sadly.

"Yes." She wrinkled her brow. "I need to start being more careful. Last week I ran into Tina and had to make up some story about a random errand that brought me to this part of the neighborhood. The longer I stay, the greater the risk of someone catching us."

Finn gently rolled his eyes. "I'm still not sure why 'us' has to be a secret."

It was the first time he'd mentioned that issue in months, and he immediately felt bad for being semi-obnoxious about it instead of bringing it up in a more heartfelt way.

Rachel seemed to get it, sitting back down on the edge of the bed next to where his large body was still stretched out. "As I've explained before, I exert influence at school based largely on disdain for jocks like yourself… not to mention _**you**_in particular. If anyone finds out that I'd succumbed to this animalistic attraction we seem to share, I'll never be taken seriously in my bids for class president and lead theatrical roles and whatever other obstacles I decide to conquer. Besides, you know that everyone else at school would look at you differently if you and I were openly dating. It's just... easier this way."

"I guess," he conceded, sitting up on his elbows. "But… that's all you think this is? 'Animalistic attraction?'" He sighed, his mind flashing back to the rehearsal room several weeks prior. "I really do care about you."

"I care about you too, but there are other things to consider. For now I need to get out of here. We'll talk soon."

With that she scampered out of the room, leaving him naked on his bed to stare at the ceiling and contemplate the dilemma that their secret relationship presented.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\

_**One more part left! ;-)**_


	4. These Sleeping Dogs Won't Lie

_**Thanks again for all of the support for this story. I truly appreciate it.**_

_**So this is the last chapter. If that disappoints you, just keep in mind that writing this has stalled any further progress on Every Time We Touch, which I look forward to getting back to working on, like, right now. **_

_**ALSO, there's always the chance that I'll eventually revisit this 'verse in a sequel of some kind, so no need to despair. ;-)**_

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Two days later Finn and Rachel were in her bedroom for a change, taking advantage of her dads being out until very late at some lawyers' benefit. Finn rode his bike there to ease Rachel's concerns that someone would recognize his truck in her driveway and suspect something. With the minimized risk of getting caught, he was in no hurry to leave and they easily transitioned from doing each other to doing homework.

Of course, he was still thinking about something else.

"So I still don't get it," he said, closing his copy of Fahrenheit 451 and tossing it in the air so that it landed next to him on her bed. "You're so worried about what your friends will think of us, but you're clearly the leader of the music/drama/smart-kid crowds. So why does it matter?"

Rachel sighed, re-stacking her SAT vocabulary flashcards and crawling up towards the pillows (and him). "It's not that I'm worried about what they'll think, in-and-of itself. But in order to maintain my perch at the top of those groups I need to demonstrate to everyone that I'm taking my ambitions seriously. If I showed up to rehearsal wearing your letterman jacket, it would look like I'm just like any other high school student, distracted by relationships and other drama instead of focused on my performances and other responsibilities. The only way to get the best possible recommendation letters from Mr. Schue and Principal Figgins is to remain… distinct."

"You _are_ 'distinct', that's for sure," Finn teased, quickly catching her off-guard and squeezing her side.

Rachel jumped in response to having been tickled, then rolled her eyes and smacked him with a pillow. "Seriously, though. My friends can't know about us because I compete against them for solo performances and roles in the musicals. If they smell weakness they'll go into full-on warfare every time. The system is a lot more fragile than your teams of sporting Neanderthals who just want to bash their heads together and win a game. Trust me."

Finn laughed, her cute self-assured statement distracting him from the fact that he should have been insulted by her comment about athletes.

Then, he thought of something she'd mentioned months before; something he'd been trying not to think about.

He must have winced or otherwise given his thoughts away because Rachel stared at him curiously. "What?" she asked.

He groaned. "Just, uh… you know how you said that your last boyfriend turned out to be a jerk?"

She nodded but looked away, and he took her hand so she'd turn back to him.

"Just… that's not me, okay? I'd never… I mean, I hope you realize…" He felt like an idiot groping for the words but he was running out of different ways to tell her how much he cared about her.

"I know, Finn." She kissed him softly, her hands on his face, barely breaking eye contact. "I know."

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\

That night, Finn lay awake in bed, determination sending his brain into overdrive.

The way that Rachel had looked at him after he fumbled through his promise not to hurt her left him convinced that he was wearing her down. It seemed like all he needed was one final push to convince her that they should be a real couple. The only remaining question was what the hell he needed to say to her to make that happen.

He thought about asking his mom for advice, but he knew that she'd get all mushy about her little boy being all grown up and have a thousand questions about who the girl was and what she was like and all that. Plus, because he had such trouble lying to his mom he probably wouldn't be able to avoid telling her about their "enemies-with-benefits" relationship... and his mom just didn't need to know about those details, okay? (Once he and Rachel were a real couple, of course, he'd tell his mom about it right away. That's just how he'd always been.)

With his mom not an option, there was one other woman who Finn trusted almost as much.

The next day during lunch he rounded the corner of the locker room to the small office belonging to Beiste.

"Coach?" He knocked on the door, drawing the imposing woman's attention away from the barbecued chicken on her desk.

"Hud! What can I do for ya, Punkin'?" she asked warmly. "Drumstick? I know it's your favorite..." she offered, gesturing for him to sit down.

For someone who was tough as nails in the locker room and on the field, Coach Beiste promised her players that her office was a safe space where they could come to her with any problems or questions about life.

"Nah, that's all right, Coach," he declined politely while settling into a chair in front of her desk. "I just came by because I need a... girl's opinion on something."

Coach's eyes lit up and she squirmed a little in her seat. "This should be good," she said excitedly, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

Finn tried not to blush. "So, there's this girl, and she's not someone who I ever thought I'd be into because we're pretty... different."

Beiste nodded thoughtfully. "Well, they do say that opposites attract."

"Yeah, I feel like I know **exactly** what that means now," Finn agreed with a smile before he recalled his frustration with the situation and sighed. "The problem is that I've asked her out, but she's worried that it would be weird, because we're involved in totally different activities and have such separate groups of friends."

Beiste frowned a little. "Well, that shouldn't matter! The only important thing in a relationship is that two people care for one another. Everything else just falls into place after that."

"Right! So, I keep telling her that I really care about her and the other stuff doesn't bother me, that we'll figure it out, but she's being pretty stubborn about the whole thing."

"But you're pretty sure she likes you too? And it's just the other stuff that's getting in the way?" Beiste asked.

_If the sex is any indication, yeah, _Finn had to stop himself from saying out loud. Instead he just smiled across the desk. "Yeah, Coach. I wasn't absolutely sure until the other day but... yeah, she does."

Coach nodded, her lips pursed together in thought for a moment. "Well, Punkin', maybe you need to stop talking and start acting."

"Acting? Like, I should wear a costume and pretend to be someone else?" For a split second he wanted to panic, convinced that Beiste knew he was talking about a girl involved in theater and would figure the whole thing out.

"No, hun," Beiste said, shaking her head. "I mean... take action. Less talking, more **doing**."

"Ohhh." Finn felt like a complete idiot. Luckily Coach didn't seem to mind.

"Girls like to see **evidence** that a guy cares, instead of just hearing him say it over and over again," she explained. "Show that you're interested in things she likes. Be friendly towards her friends. It doesn't have to be anything big, just small gestures."

Finn nodded slowly, letting the coach's wisdom wash over him while the wheels started turning in his head.

"Oh, and if all else fails," she went on, "there's always candy or flowers," she added with a wink. "It's the right time of year for that, after all."

Finn laughed. "Thanks, Coach," he told her as he stood.

"Any time, darlin'. You know that."

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\

For the next week, Finn didn't press the relationship issue with Rachel when they were alone. Their charade at school continued, fueled by their rival bake sales, which were each in full swing in anticipation of Valentine's Day the following Monday.

Finn thought the little stunt he pulled in putting up his signs was relatively harmless, but Rachel seemed intent on retaliating ten-fold. She had the drama club set up three separate bake sale tables in different parts of the school, with people sitting at them at seemingly every hour of the day. Before school and during lunch she stood in the lobby with a bullhorn proclaiming that the theater kids' bake sale offered vegan and organic options while the basketball team's baked goods were "laden with preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup, and trans-fats."

She also made sure to sneer at him when he walked by, but at least once he caught her gaze softening when she thought no one was looking.

Meanwhile, without her knowledge, Finn's plan was coming along quite nicely.

On Friday, he purchased a heart made of red velvet fudge from the drama club table and approached Rachel's locker.

"Ahhhem." He cleared his throat loudly so that she'd turn around.

"Yes, Hudson, can I help you with something?" she answered, still facing her locker.

"I, uh, have something for you." His answer came out totally awkward since he didn't want to use his usual at-school teasing voice but also didn't want to scare her way with the genuine, flirtatious tone he naturally seemed to slip into when they were by themselves.

Groaning a little, Rachel closed her locker and turned to face him.

"Oh!" she said, excitedly, when she saw the fudge. But then she pressed her lips into a straight line and exhaled. "The drama club thanks you for your support," she said calmly.

"Great," he said, warmly. "But really, I got it for you." He moved his hand forward in an effort to get her to take the item.

Rachel tensed and looked around. Satisfied that no one they knew was nearby, her posture relaxed and her eyes fluttered a little bit. "Finn," she said quietly, "I—"

"I also got tickets to a Barbra Streisand tribute concert, tomorrow night in Dayton. I thought maybe you'd want to go. With me. Like... a date." As nervous as he was about her reaction, he couldn't stop smiling because it just felt so good to be approaching her and taking action like Beiste suggested.

But after a few seconds of her still not saying anything he can't help but feel disappointed. "Please, Rachel. I just want this to be real. And as special as you are."

This time, she blushed and look down at the ground, but the silence was interrupted by the appearance of Fashion Kid (who Finn now knew to be named Kurt Hummel).

"Rachel I need to change my tabling assignment for the bake sale on Monday. The before-school time-slot is too early and will **completely** mess up my morning moisturizing routine," he said breezily before turning to Finn. "Hello, Finn. What's new?"

"Not much, I was just about to ask Rachel here to be my girlfriend. You?"

"Fi-Hudson, **what **are you talking about?!" Rachel stammered in exclamation, returning to her usual tough exterior in an attempt to dismiss his statement.

"Oh, come off it already," Kurt drawled with a liberal eye roll. "Your ridiculous outward rivalry aside, we **all** know that you two have been hooking up on the sly since the fall."

Rachel's face went white. "You all- you told them?!" she hissed at Finn.

"Easy, diva," Kurt scoffed. "Mercedes and I suspected something a while ago, but it was basically confirmed when Finn started talking to us during gym class."

Rachel looked at Finn quizzically.

He shrugged. "I figured that being in a relationship means being friends with each others' friends, and you were worried about how they'd react, so I figured I'd test it out on my own."

"You 'figured'," Rachel snickered as if to herself, looking off to the side and shaking her head in disbelief.

Finn's heart sank into his stomach.

She was mad. He'd blown it.

He'd tried and tried to convince her that he was a good guy and worth the supposed inconvenience of a real relationship but it was now clear that it wasn't enough, he would never-

Without warning, Rachel fisted the front of his polo shirt in her tiny hand and pulled him down for a kiss that made his knees weak. It was all he could do to hang onto the fudge heart in one hand and steady himself by placing his other arm on the wall behind Rachel.

"Oh God," he heard Kurt groan. "I'll see you two later if you ever come up for air," the other boy added before sauntering away.

They did break for air a moment later, and Finn was glad to see Rachel looking up at him with smiling doe-eyes, her hands still clutching his shirt like she didn't want to let him get away.

"Thank you," she said softly, a wide smile gracing her lips.

Finn didn't bother to ask if that meant she was saying yes to the concert date or being his girlfriend or anything. He quickly placed the fudge heart on the top shelf of her locker, freeing his hands so he could cradle her face and pull her back in to resume their addictive kissing.

"Yeah, Finnocence!" Puck yelled out as he passed by, smacking Finn on the back. "Love is in the air!"

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_**I couldn't resist getting a little more mushy at the end, there. Hope you approve. :)**_


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